


Tiny Wishes

by tin2lo



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 03:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13538361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tin2lo/pseuds/tin2lo
Summary: Summary: Zack manages to survive just enough to stumble back into Aerith’s church and into her arms.





	Tiny Wishes

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been on such a writing hiatus, it’s good to be back. I’m going to do my best to write more because I really miss it.

Just once more.  He just wanted to see Aerith one...more...time…

The Lifestream’s pull on him was strong.  He could feel the tug on his body get stronger as he dragged Cloud’s body along.  Zack was getting weaker with each step but the thought of leaving this world without seeing Aerith one more time was what was keeping him going.  Just once more and he could die happy.

After pushing his body to way past its limit, he finally caught sight of the desolate church in the slums.  Broken and worn down, he’d never seen a more beautiful sight.  Or at least he thought so until he pushed the door open to reveal the beautiful maiden in pink tending to the flowers.   _ I always knew she’d look good in pink _ .  He gently placed Cloud on one of the pews before slowly making his way forward.

“Aer...Aerith…”  He tried to say her name as loud as he could but it was barely above a whisper.

The flower girl turned her head at the sound of her name, curiosity on her face. Her green eyes widened in surprise as her mouth fell open.  Was this a dream?  Was he really here?  Image or reality, she didn’t care.  She wanted to be closer to him so without thinking she stepped away from her flowers and closer to him not even caring that if it were only an illusion it would break her.

She moved slowly, but each step Aerith took he became more real.  And when Zack stumbled from his fatigue and pain, she knew he was real and so rushed to catch him before he completely fell over himself.  “Zack!”  As Aerith’s body slammed into his, she wrapped her arms around his waist like she used to but the pained grunt from Zack caused her to let go immediately.

With a gasp, she looked down to see blood now covered her pink dress and around her arms.   _ No. _

“Aerith…”  Zack could barely breathe out her name anymore.

“Shh...it’s ok Zack.  You’re with me now.”  Aerith tried desperately to hold back the tears.  “How about we sit by the flowers?”  Maybe sitting closer to the flowers and the life of the planet would heal him.  She quickly wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders and took him by the waist as they both tried to make it to her tiny flower patch.

Gently she laid him down with his head in her lap.  Zack had to admit, this was the most comfortable he’d been in a long time even with a dozen bullet holes in his body.  “I promised...I’d...come back…”

Aerith’s tears were freely flowing now but she still smiled and let out a small smile.  “You did…”  Aerith leaned forward to place a kiss on his forehead.  “I always knew you would,” she whispered.  “You made me wait for quite a while though.”

“I did...didn’t I?  I’ll...make it...up to you…”  

She knew she shouldn’t be making him speak.  She knew she should take him to a hospital.  But how could she?  She’d never be able to carry him by herself to the nearest hospital while fending off monsters.  And the sound of his voice, despite how labored it was, was the greatest sound she’d heard in four years.  So rather than overthinking everything, Aerith clutched him closer to her and let the tears fall onto his face.  “How so?”

“I’ll build you...another flower cart….”

Aerith let out another laugh through her tears.  “You’ve already made me so many.  And I love them all.”

Zack chuckled but the laughter made his body hurt.  He laughed anyway just for her.  “No you...don’t.  But it’s...ok...I can...make you...a better one…”

Aerith leaned forward again and placed another kiss on his head.  “I want to tell you a secret.”  He looked up expectantly.  “I loved your flower carts.  I just said I didn’t so that you’d take longer making them.”  She wiped a tear from her eye thinking about how long ago it was that she asked him to do that simple task and he’d done it over and over again without complaint.  “I just wanted to spend more time with you,”  Aerith said as she choked back a sob.

“23...tiny wishes...right?”  Zack said with a slight chuckle in his voice.  “I can...still make that...one big one...come true though…”  He remembered.  He never forgot.  It was the one thing keeping him alive enough to come back to her.   _ I’d like to spend more time with you. _

Aerith nodded vigorously.  “I hope so,” she replied with a sad smile.  His breathing was labored and he was still bleeding from various wounds on his body.  She didn’t know how much more time she had with him but it didn’t seem like a lot.  It didn’t matter though.  What mattered was that he came back and she was spending time with him now.

Zack smiled that charismatic smile of his she loved so much.  Aerith almost forgot he was dying in her arms.  “I have...a couple...tiny wishes too…”

Her eyes widened at that but somehow her smile was just a little brighter.  “Really?”

Zack smiled.  He waited so long to see her smiling face.  “Actually...all of...my smaller wishes....are based on...the first one coming true…”

“And what’s your first wish?”

Zack lifted his hand slowly, disregarding the pain that shot through his body, and placed his hand on the side of her face.  “To marry you when I got back…”

Aerith felt the air leave her lungs.  She quickly grabbed his hand by her face and kept it there when she felt him about to pull away.  She choked back a sob but tears still escaped from her eyes.  “Well you’re here now…”

Zack let out an actual laugh but the pain was too much that he ended up coughing.  Aerith only clutched him tighter.  “Not exactly...the proposal...I imagined…”

“Shh…”  She soothed.  Aerith turned her head to place a kiss on his hand by her face.  “I don’t care for a fancy proposal or even a ring.  My answer will always be yes.  And don’t say it like it’s not happening.”  His smile was even brighter.  Her answer somehow giving him the strength he thought he had lost.  “What about your other wishes?” She asked.

“My wish was...to take you...above the plate.”

Aerith smiled.  “You’ll protect me, right?”

“Always.”  It was Zack’s turn to pull her hand holding his into a kiss.  “There’s a...beach there...too...great place...for a honeymoon...if you ask me.”  He wiggled his eyebrows (or as best he could for his condition) and Aerith, for the first time, let out a genuine laugh.  Even in his current state of fatigue and pain, he was still her Zack.

“I’m sure it is.  I have some new wishes now too.”  She smiled at him as she ran her fingers through his hair.  “ _ When  _ we get you fixed up and we do all those beautiful things you said we’d do…” she stopped and sniffled a bit.  “...you’re going to build me a home instead of a flower cart.  And I’m going to cover it in flowers.  And you’re going to stop working for Shinra so that every night you can come home to me and our  _ family… _ ”

The very little breath left in his lungs escaped.  “F-f-family?”

Aerith nodded her head vigorously as more tears escaped.  “Yes.  _ Our _ family.  We’re going to have one after you marry me. A little soldier boy and a flower girl.”

Zack shook his head.  “No...no soldier…”

Aerith squeezed him to her chest to calm him.  “Ok, you’re right, you’re right.  No soldier.  But you don’t need to be a soldier to be a hero.  And I want our son to be a hero...like his father.”

“Would you say...I became...a hero?”  His breathing getting less and less.

She smiled through her tears.  “Yes.   _ My  _ hero.”  Aerith placed her forehead over his and held him tight.  Zack could feel himself growing weaker as Aerith felt within the planet the lifestream trying to take her lover away from her.  But the lifestream couldn’t have Zack.  It could have anything else.  Anyone else.  Just don’t take Zack.

As she lifted her head from Zack’s, she looked up in shock to realize another man was standing over her.  Aerith’s eyes widened as she looked at Tseng towering over the two of them, a gun in hand.

Aerith pulled Zack closer to her.  She couldn’t tell what Tseng was planning.  Whatever it was, she would not leave Zack.  If he wanted to kill Zack, he’d have to get through her first.  Just like Zack almost died protecting Cloud, Aerith would die protecting Zack.


End file.
